The session opened in the quiet aftermath of the previous night's chaos. Thorag, too unsettled to sleep, kept watch from inside one of [[Armara]]'s holding cells, casting wary eyes through the bars at [[Cedric]] — who lay on the floor breathing heavily, his posture subtly changed from when the party first met him. A hollow stillness had settled into his bearing that Thorag couldn't name but instinctively distrusted. Elsewhere in the domain the rest of the party rested in their own ways: [[Nobuu]] submerged in his cold bath, [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] writing down everything she had witnessed and been warned about at the debate hall, [[Arin Veldrak|Arin]] composing careful notes on the Brimstone Wraith and the symbiote phenomenon, and [[Hermes]] meditating at the garden's edge, keeping one eye open. [[Z'ul]] stayed awake in the Arcanum's library, chasing ancient references to the dark residue [[Anam]] and [[Ashuan Raul]] had left behind. --- ### Breakfast and the Armory The following morning [[Glyph]] roused the party and summoned them to the kitchen, where [[Armara]] waited with breakfast already prepared. She addressed the group with rare directness — acknowledging that [[Nobuu]] and Thorag had saved her life, something she was plainly unaccustomed to accepting — and confirmed that [[Cedric]] remained in isolation. Thorag's necrotic signature appeared to be fading on its own, she noted, likely through sheer force of will. As a gesture of trust, [[Armara]] opened her private magical armory to the party, offering each member one item from a collection built over years and kept locked away. [[Glyph]] escorted them through the treasury explaining each item's function. [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] claimed a wand of the war mage, [[Arin Veldrak|Arin]] selected a weapon suited to cutting down undead, and [[Nobuu]] — now equipped with a belt that pushed his strength to staggering levels — tested it with characteristic subtlety by immediately throwing [[Arin Veldrak|Arin]] across the training room. [[Arin Veldrak|Arin]] struck a target rack and a wall in quick succession, and declined to be thrown again. --- ### Down to the Cells After the armory, [[Armara]] led [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] and [[Z'ul]] down to the holding cells. [[Glyph]] scanned both prisoners. Thorag's necrotic residue had faded enough that [[Armara]] released him. [[Cedric]] was a different matter. [[Glyph]] detected a powerful, elusive signature that resisted identification, and when she suggested he remain confined, something flashed across [[Cedric]]'s face — a surge of rage that vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving him sitting quietly against the wall as though nothing had happened. [[Armara]] kept him locked in. All four — [[Armara]], [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]], [[Z'ul]], and Thorag — then made their way up to the tower together. --- ### Into the Tower — [[Z'ul]]'s Research and [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]]'s Tether In the tower, [[Z'ul]] quietly asked Thorag to step out into the hallway. With only [[Armara]] and [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] present, [[Z'ul]] laid out what he had pieced together from a night of study: the power [[Anam]] and [[Ashuan Raul]] had used bore signatures from a foundational age of Solare, magic older than any living record, and it was directly tied to how [[Anam]] had been able to sense [[the Soulthread Gem]]'s location. [[Armara]] pressed [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] with questions. The source became clear — the tether had latched onto [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] through the [[Eye of Al'Khathar]] back in [[Vexaris Thornwell|Vexaris]]'s vault. It was not [[Cedric]] or Thorag who had given away their location. It had been [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]], unknowingly, from the moment she stared into the artifact. With that understood, [[Armara]] and [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] left the tower together, heading down to another level to begin work on severing the connection. As they descended, Thorag — still waiting in the hallway — stopped [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]]. ### A Voice in the Earring Thorag had received a call through his earring while waiting outside. A cheerful Tiefling voice asked for [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] — identifying herself as [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]], saying she was having a lovely dinner with their friend "[[Vael Dross|V]]" and his company. Thorag stopped [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] as she and [[Armara]] descended and relayed the message. [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] went pale and turned to [[Armara]] immediately. [[Armara]]'s response was practical: she needed to know the precise location before she could even attempt a teleport, and the recipient would have to be willing. [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] pushed — [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]] was innocent, she had been pulled into this because of her, and [[Vael Dross|Vael]] Dross was sitting right across the table from her. [[Armara]] was unmoved at first. "Hopefully it is a quick death," she said, not unkindly, but practically. Thorag made the case plainly, drawing on a flash of genius: the girl was an innocent who had gotten unlucky, it would take minutes, and she deserved the chance. He rolled well. [[Armara]] agreed — but warned that if [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]] tried anything, she would not hesitate. The next problem was reaching [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]]. [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] no longer had her earring — she had given it to [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]] at the library. She reached out to [[Nobuu]] telepathically, pulling him away from the training room where he had been hurling [[Arin Veldrak|Arin]] and [[Hermes]] around, and asked him to use his earring to message [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]] directly. [[Nobuu]], not a natural diplomat, rolled at disadvantage and delivered something approximating what was needed. [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]]'s confused but cheerful reply came back: she was at the Clearwater Tavern, having quail, the wine was excellent, and "[[Vael Dross|V]]" was right there with her. [[Armara]] confirmed she knew the tavern. [[Glyph]] scried it — the window opened onto [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]] sitting across from [[Vael Dross|Vael]] Dross, black-cloaked figures filling the surrounding tables. [[Nobuu]] watched the image form. A moment ago he had been mildly annoyed that [[Hermes]] had scratched him during the throwing session. Then someone mentioned that [[Vael Dross]] was the man who had stabbed [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]]. The shift in his expression was immediate — from boredom to something that could only be described as pure, cold malice. [[Armara]] went alone. She stepped into the Clearwater Tavern, placed a hand on [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]]'s shoulder, and looked across the table at [[Vael Dross]]. "You and I shall have words later," she said. "I have questions." Then she was gone, [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]] in tow. Two teleportation charges spent. No regrets. --- ### [[Ziritha Mourne]] Arrives [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]]'s arrival hit the domain like a small, enthusiastic storm. She immediately began examining the pocket dimension's glyphwork and pulled out her notebook to copy the constructs — until [[Armara]] snapped at her to stop writing. "Geniuses do not share work," [[Armara]] said flatly. [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]] apologised profusely. She asked [[Glyph]] what she was made of, tried to take notes on [[Nobuu]]'s physiology, and peppered Thorag with questions about his family until he led her toward the kitchen with the promise of food and stories. [[Arin Veldrak|Arin]], wandering out of the hallway, found himself wrapped in her arm and subjected to questions about his upbringing within thirty seconds of introduction. --- ### [[Nobuu]], [[Armara]], and the Promise With [[Ziritha Mourne|Ziri]] safely distracted, [[Nobuu]] cornered [[Armara]]. He had not forgotten who had stabbed [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] the day before, and he made his intentions regarding [[Vael Dross|Vael]] Dross unambiguous. [[Armara]] told him she would find [[Vael Dross|Vael]], and that when she did, [[Nobuu]] could have the killing blow. She would handle everyone else. The conversation shifted into something quieter and more unexpected. [[Armara]] spoke about her sister [[Fortuna Axton-Astervale|Fortuna]], about love and betrayal, about never quite understanding either. [[Nobuu]], in a rare moment of openness, described what [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] meant to him — not in the language of friendship exactly, but as something closer to salvation. [[Armara]] listened. It was an unusual exchange between two people who preferred walls. --- ### [[Armara]]'s Departure — Transfer of the Domain [[Armara]] had one final task before leaving. She needed to enter the astral plane to deal with whatever remained of the tether on the other end — a journey of days, possibly a week. She transferred temporary ownership of the domain to [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]], passing the command codes through [[Fragment]], who settled onto [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]]'s wrist as a bracelet. [[Glyph]] and the thirty sentinels would answer to [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]]. If [[Armara]] did not return, [[Fragment]] would release all remaining information about [[Anam]]'s nodes and the phylactery triangulation plan. Before she left, [[Nobuu]] cast a death ward on her. Her parting words were measured: she told [[Nobuu]] she had never expected anyone to pull her back, and that she wasn't sure yet what to do with that. She told [[Ilith Ornithullin|Ilith]] she suspected they were more alike than either of them would probably admit. Then she stepped through a cocoon of light and vanished. --- ### The Road Ahead With [[Armara]] gone and the wagon already moving through the forests beyond Brensistria, the party took stock. The journey to Hexa Landing was long — weeks through the Mirror Desert and north through free kingdom territory. The question of whether to stop at the [[Sylrathis|Eldertree]] [[Sylrathis]] for [[Benguard]]'s unfinished pilgrimage remained open for a vote during the week. [[Nobuu]], for his part, was patient. [[Armara]] had promised him the killing blow. He could wait.